Enlarge ImageRequest to buy this photoDispatch File PhotoRich Nathan, senior pastor of Vineyard Church, shown above in 2007, said he fired former associate pastor Steven C. Robbins as soon as Nathan heard about the allegations of misconduct.

A former associate pastor at a Columbus megachurch has been accused by a woman whom he counseled for sex addiction of having a sexual relationship with her.

The woman, her husband and their five children are suing Steven C. Robbins, who worked at the 8,000-member Vineyard Church of Columbus as one of nearly 30 associate pastors until he was fired in February.

The lawsuit says that Robbins, 61, took advantage of his position as counselor to the woman when he had an affair with her between Aug. 31 and Nov. 9, 2010.

The family also is suing the church, which is based near Westerville, and its national body, Texas-based Vineyard USA, for failing to stop the relationship.

The family filed the lawsuit today in Franklin County Common Pleas Court. The couple and their children are listed as plaintiffs only as “Jane Does” and “John Does,” because the complaint describes sexual abuse, said their attorney, Edwin Hollern. The sexual relationship was abusive because of Robbins’ position and knowledge of the woman’s problems, Hollern said.

The complaint alleges that Robbins asked the woman to relate her sexual history “to see how the demonic could possibly be in play.” The woman told him she had been sexually abused as a child by three men in positions of authority, the complaint said.

According to the complaint, “Defendant Robbins continued to press Jane Doe for more detail of her sexual history despite knowing that all of the discussion of her sexual history was revving up her addiction.”

The sexual relationship between the pair ended when the woman entered an out-of-state treatment facility for sex addiction, Hollern said.

A woman who answered the phone at Robbins’ home in Westerville said he had no comment.

The complaint says that church leaders knew or should have known of the abuse, but Rich Nathan, senior pastor, said no one at Vineyard knew.

“I personally fired Steve within an hour of learning from the husband about this affair,” Nathan said.

The woman had not been formally assigned to work with Robbins, he added. She knew Robbins because she was volunteering to do research for him, Nathan said. Robbins, a 40-year veteran of ministry, has written on theological topics.

Robbins’ expertise is in theology, so counseling her for sex addiction was beyond what he should have been doing, Nathan said. After Robbins was fired, Nathan said he immediately notified the congregation and the national church about what had happened.

The family decided to sue in part because their counseling expenses have been high, Hollern said.

The complaint asks for punitive damages in excess of $25,000 and compensatory damages in excess of $25,000. “The evidence will show that future counseling alone will be a very significant figure, much more than that amount,” Hollern said. The trial date is set for August 2012.